Faithful Followers

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I went to the library this evening to get some writing done. I am SO close to finishing my second manuscript! Sooo close, but not quite done. This second book is about pregnancy and childbirth and I'm stuck on the part about delivery. I just keep thinking about things Joe did (or didn't do) that made me want to throw a bedpan at him while I was in labor. I don't think that'll make for a great chapter.

So, anyway, I was sitting at the library because I can usually write in peace there. Suddenly this guy walked over and sat down right next to me. What the heck? There were like 40 empty chairs and he sat down right there! So, he looks at me, smiles, and starts reading his book. He read like maybe 5 sentences, then jumped up and walked over to the paperback racks. He put his book back and grabbed a different one, then came back and sat down again. He kept staring at me as he managed to read another 5 sentences or so. Then he did it again! He got up, put that book back and grabbed yet another one!

He did this 4 times! And in between book-switching times, ADD boy just stared at me. It was SO weird. So, I wrote about this on my Facebook page and someone wrote back, "Maybe he reads your blog."

OK, that's great! He reads my blog, he's going to see where I Twittered about the "weirdo who sat down next to me at the library", he's going to stalk me and kill me. At least that line of thinking spurred me on to write another 1000 words so I could at least finish my book before meeting my demise.

I went to the front of the library to get a cup of coffee because I was sitting next to the window and I was freezing my butt off. Of course when I stood up, I accidentally ripped my ear buds out of my computer and Major Tom by Peter Schilling blasted throughout the silence of the library. "4, 3, 2, 1..." Yep, I'm just classy that way.

When I came back, the guy had left. OK, that was odd, I thought. But I quickly got back to writing.

A little while later, I looked out the window to the apartment complex a few yards away from the library and oh my gosh, who do I see through the window! It was that guy! Now I'm officially freaked out. Is he watching me? Maybe he's looking the other way. Maybe he's just watching TV. I was too scared to look back out the window and check because I thought I'd see him looking back.

Again, I updated my Facebook page with what was going on. I believe after writing this tidbit on Facebook, my friends told me to step away from the coffee machine and to stop hallucinating.

After a couple minutes, I pretended to look through my purse for my flash drive and as I scrounged around for it, I nonchalantly glanced back through the window toward the apartments. Know what I saw? I saw that "the guy who was stalking me" was actually just a reflection of the librarian!

Yes, I am just THAT MUCH OF A DORK.

After I got back home, I emailed the whole saga to my friends. My friend Denise wrote back... "And maybe you're the ADD one who can't concentrate on her book and is easily distracted by clicking and some poor guy trying to find an interesting book to read who's wondering why you keep staring at him."

Yes, folks. I'm pretty sure this poor guy is on the phone with his friends right now telling them about the creepy girl at the library who couldn't stop staring at him.

46 comments:

What a riot! It sounds a little creepy, but funny at the same time. Hope he's not reading your blog!

I don't blame you for not remembering details while in labor. Yes, all I wanted to do was grab him by the.... and throw him across the room! It's amazing the Hellboy strength one possesses during labor.

Maybe you should write a section in the chapter about delivery and call it "Perhaps other males should avoid this tactic" or "Learn from Joe's Delivery Room Errors" or "I Still Love Joe, Despite the Deliveries"

'Feisty Irish Wench said...Maybe you should write a section in the chapter about delivery and call it "Perhaps other males should avoid this tactic" or "Learn from Joe's Delivery Room Errors" or "I Still Love Joe, Despite the Deliveries"'

maybe Joe should write that chapter - or you could both write your accounts of the same moments for comparison. that way Joe wouldn't come out looking like a jerk, and it would probably be pretty funny.

Ahh, my man did so many things wrong during labour but at least he believed me when I said the baby was stuck. That got him a shiny gold star. And those midwives who after hours of me pushing finally conceeded that perhaps the baby really is stuck... well I was still with it enough to realise they would be looking after me for the next few days so I let this one slide:)

In my family we call that the "Taco Bell Effect." You are the first ones in the restaurant. You sit way off in a corner because you want your privacy. The very next people who come in will sit right next to you! It happens everywhere. I always sit as far as I can from others so I don't intrude on them, but I seem to be an oddball that way.

Your friends may be on to something with the ADD thing....There appears to be a genetic component to ADD, with Jackson having it there is a decent chance of either you or Joe having it as well...just some food for thought.

I like Beth's idea of doing a "he said/she said" of the labor room stories. My mom tells this story about my dad: I was born before epidurals were commonplace. My sister was born when they were just becoming popular. So, my mom had an epidural while in labor with sis, but not me. While my mom is in labor with sis my dad comments, "I liked it better without the epidural. This is boring. It was more interesting when you were in pain." SERIOUSLY!! I told my dad he is lucky to still be alive!!

I still think it's weird that he sat right down next to you. A little creepy. Kind of like when an older guy got on the treadmill next to me at the gym, when there were a whole bunch of other ones free. Then I noticed him ogling my D cups out of the corner of his eye (I guess the gut flab didn't offend him). *rolls eyes* Unfortunately, I'm used to that. I was a C cup when I skinny so I've always had guys that think my eyes are about 18 inches lower than they are.

We were newly married, in a house with a bedroom at the back with the neighbor house behind us relatively close. I folded laundry while sitting on the bed. One day, every time I went into the bedroom someone outside whistled at me. We hadn't met the eccentric single man who lived behind us, but I had heard he was odd and had been through many wives.

Hubby came home and we decided to tell neighbors a few houses down about this. They laughed their butts off. They told us the neighbor wasn't even home...it was his mynah bird!

And I missed all this excitement in your life because I was feeling bloated, crappy, tired, and went to bed early. Goes to show you, if you go to bed early, you miss all the cool stuff going on. NOw I have to catch up on your twitter feed and look back thorugh last night's FB entries. Have fun in Philly. Hope the storms don't slow ou down. Stay warm! XOXO

LOL! How old was the guy? As a social psychology professor, I just wanted to say that it sounds suspiciously familiar to social psychology experiment on watching what people do when you violate their social norms(such as sitting next to someone when there is plenty of room available to sit down). You could have been unwittingly taken part in research!

I'm currently pregnant with my first, and have been reading your blog since the big ebay debacle of the pokemon cards. I think that your book should have a chapter about husbands or birth partners and what is useful, and what might land them with a bedpan over the head... my husband tends to say the wrong thing and I look at him like I'd like to deck him, so it'd be entertaining, include it!

Ha ha ha! That sounds just like something I would do! My daughters tell me I am a worry wort and a nutso conspiracy theorist. I'm always worried about some weirdo whom I encountered, and the same is true in my case... it's probably me who is the weirdo! :-)

you know what, I can't remember a lot of the things my dh said & did during labor. Two things seem to happen every time, though: He falls asleep, and He doesn't believe that I'm *actually* in labor until the hospital admits me (great to have a pessimist at your side! Not).

I like the idea of Joe writing a chapter!

Oh, and crazy library guy might have just been hoping to read some of your book over your shoulder. I would have freaked too. Actually, I would have moved to a different seat.

I'd take that weirdo any day. The weirdo's around here, don't just stare. They blurt out obscenities and follow you with your kids. It's harder to get away dragging three kids. The staring and questions about the man yelling "oh, you sexy thing, look at you!", making it impossible to hurry.

What I Did During While My Wife Gave Birth To Our Children By Rick Green

The first two deliveries were very intense. My wife accomplished the second one with no medication at all. This wasn't a "Oh, we believe in natural child birth thing." She was delivered in a SMALL country hospital and by the time the doctor got there it was too late for medication.

I was unprepared for the intensity of the situation at first. Marylynn was in P-A-I-N!! I'm pretty much a big baby and when the pains really started to hit I couldn't help it and began to tear up and cry.

My wife, needing an anchor at the moment, looked at me and said, "You're the one that suppose to be strong."

So, from then on, when it got intense, I would try to hide my head beside the bed and get in a quick cry before I had to come up and face her.

I don't think it worked. She could tell.

I have NO desire to see any grandchildren born. I plan to be planted in a room with a T.V. and loads of snacks waiting out of ear shot for someone to come in and give me the news.

Found you in the February issue of Good Housekeeping. Oh my gosh. My daughter came in to see what I was laughing about.

You know what? I'm a complete dork and would have done the same thing!

There was a snowstorm a few weeks ago (and a continued one since), I stopped in a store to get some Lysol (a friend had taken ill at my house and EWWWW!), so I parked the car kind of caddy-wompus but I was the only one in the lot. I came out to an empty lot with another vehicle parked almost on top of my car. The owner came out as I was strapping my daughter in and said, "Oh, I think I may have gotten a little close." All I could say was, "Just a little." Girlfriend was so close that there was barely room for me to wedge my somewhat petite 5 foot frame in between to get the kid strapped in.

I had to come back and reread this one. All the comments about the husbands wouldn't leave me alone. Although I still believe that husbands, throwing bedpans, and labor make up a natural trio in our present era, I think I figured out what's bothering me.I just finished doing some historical research involving isolated/pioneer/missionary families and the importance of community. Within 100 years ago in the US and still today in as much as 20% of the world husbands ARE the midwives. Most western men today seem to fall into 2 categories - 1. Can't wait till next time! 2. Never Again!Kind of knocks the wind out of "We've come a long way, baby!"